Chris Mendonca
Chris Mendonca was a contestant on Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 13th place. Personality Chris can cook, but he seemed to be incapable of handling the fast-paced conditions and had bad memory, owing it to a massive accident he had nine months previously that destroyed parts of his face. He appeared to be inspired by food and also had a dislike for Mia, despite complimenting her booty. Although he tried his best and occasionally put out good dishes, he decided to withdraw from the competition after his demons from his accident started coming back. Season 18 Episode 1/2 When the sixteen chefs arrived to Hell's Kitchen, they were welcomed by Marino and the Sous Chefs, and were given butternut squash risotto for lunch. During lunch, Chris complimented “Aaron’s” mustache, not realizing that he was talking to Trev. He was the fourth rookie to explain his credentials, and Ramsay poked fun over his small stature. When the veterans revealed themselves, he was weirded out by them picking off their disguises. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Chris revealed his duck breast with a mango-blackberry puree, went up against Bret, and he was the fourth person from the red team to have his dish judged by Ramsay. He made a duck breast with mango-blackberry puree, Ramsay praised it for nailing the duck, and he scored 4 points. The rookies won the challenge after a tie at 29, and they were rewarded with dinner at Josiah Citrin’s Charcoal, with Ramsay joining them along with Citrin. During the Creative Risotto Challenge, Chris decided to use pork belly for his risotto despite Sous Chef Christina's concern. As the Sous Chefs tasted the risottos, he presented his pork belly risotto with a soft boiled egg, but Sous Chef Christina questioned his decision to place his stuff off to the side of his risotto. He was named the first rookie to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and while he was shocked by that, he presented his pan-seared pork belly risotto. While Ramsay commented that it did not look like a traditional risotto, he praised the flavor for having a nice punch, and called it a great start. He lost the challenge after being dethroned by T. After Bret's emotional boasting, he mocked him in his confessional. During dinner service, Chris was on the meat station with Mia. At one point, he was trying his best to keep track of what was sent out, but Ramsay caught him writing down notes instead of helping Mia out. After, Ramsay broke his pencil and ripped up his notes. Later, he got his meat entrées accepted, but on the next order, he failed to call back the order as he forgot the halibut, and was not used to Ramsay’s system yet. The rookies lost the dinner service, with Ramsay berating him for writing things down, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Mia nominated him for not communicating with her on orders, but he sarcastically commented that her job was to cook and not listen to Ramsay. Chris was named the rookies' second nominee for elimination, with Scott as the first, and they were joined by Jose. During his plea, Ramsay asked him what happened that night, and he admitted that he got confused and mixed up. Then, he revealed that he got into an accident earlier that year which damaged 90% of his face and received a concussion that affected his memory, but proclaimed that he still had the fire inside him. While Ramsay felt bad for him, he told him to fight back. He survived elimination, and while being dismissed, he revealed that the reason he never told anybody about his accident earlier was that he did not want to make any excuses. Episode 3 While going back to the dorms, Chris admitted that elimination sucked that night, but knew that there was nothing more for him to do other than admit to his mistakes as he would get better from them. During the Marine Service Challenge, Chris was on the salad station. He was not seen, and the rookies won the challenge. They were rewarded with a trip to Paramount Ranch, and got to star in their own Western film. During dinner service, Chris was on the appetizer station with Motto. He was not seen that night, and both teams were named joint-winners. Episode 4 While going back to the dorms, Chris commented that Jen had a major opportunity that other people would have killed for to come back a second time, and asked what the latter was thinking for spitting in Ramsay’s face. Later that night, he was with Jose and Scotely at the hot tub, talked about the sexy ladies on their team, and he stated that if it were not for Mia’s bossy attitude, he would date her for her big ass booty. Before the Winter Soup Challenge, Chris was paired up with Gizzy on the sledding, and they were the second pair to compete. During the cooking, he decided to make a spicy butternut squash soup as he made it before, and decided to cook some shrimp as a garnish. He was the fourth person from the rookies to have his dish judged, and presented his spicy butternut squash soup with fried jalapenos and tomatoes. It was criticized for looking like melted cheese, and he scored three points. The rookies eventually won the challenge 51-41, and they were rewarded with an overnight trip to L’Horizon at Palm Springs, and ate dinner at Sopa. During the reward, he said that he would remember that moment when he was in heaven. During dinner service, Chris was on the fish station. When the rookies were beginning on entrées, he was firing a pork just now, and Ramsay discovered a seriously charred pork chop in the oven. When Ramsay asked the rookies who was responsible for that, nobody answered, but he argued that the pork should have been cooked on the meat station instead of fish, and did not know who put the pork chop in the oven, not remembering that it was Ramsay who placed in there ten minutes ago. Despite getting his refire accepted, he told Kanae that he was not ready for her to slice her Wellingtons. Both teams were named joint-winners, and were asked to nominate two each. During deliberation, Gizzy, Kanae, and Mia considered Chris for elimination for being lost all night and not being certain about timings, but he argued that he was communicative compared to the others. Chris was named the rookies first nominee for elimination, with Gizzy as the second, and they were joined by Kevin and Trev from the veterans. During his plea, Gizzy called him the weakest chef of the rookies, but he argued that Mia was the weakest as the latter was more demanding than being a leader. He survived elimination as he was sent back in line, but Ramsay warned him that he was on his last chance. He said goodbye to Gizzy, Kanae, and Mia as they were reassinged to the blue team, and welcomed Bret, Kevin, and Trev as new teammates as Ramsay decided to end the Rookies Vs. Veterans team format, and bring back the battle of the sexes. Episode 5 Back at the dorms, Chris said that he was happy to have the three male veterans on the red team, and wanted to be more direct with discussions, which Trev agreed with. During the Seven Way Cooking Challenge, Chris received steamed as his cooking method. During the cooking, he decided to do a papillote dish as it was a style of steamed cooking. He was the second person from the red team to have his dish judged, and went up against Mia. After seeing Mia's dish, he annoyingly deemed her an overachiever. He made a halibut papillote with steamed vegetables, and while it was praised for being cooked very well, it was criticized for lacking any seasoning, and he lost that round to Mia. After seeing Motto's dish, he got aroused by it. The red team lost the challenge 3-5, and they were punished by participating in composting day, which involved mixing all the waste that was accumulated in the 18 seasons of the show, and mixing it with manure that would be arriving soon. During dinner service, Chris served a mussel in saffron broth appetizer tableside. At one point, he was seen standing around doing nothing as nobody ordered from tableside, and Ramsay pulled him back into the red kitchen, lecturing to the red team that they needed to communicate. When he asked if he could help, none of the men were willing to let him help, until Kevin reluctantly allowed him to help out on fish. However, not only was he inconsistent on timings, his scallops were raw, and a fed-up Kevin told him to be at the pass and tell them what was being fired. After Scotley argued that he could not multitask on orders, he agreed to help out. The red team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, he considered Scotley and Bret for elimination. He was not nominated for elimination. Episode 6 Back at the dorms, Chris and Kanae met at the hot tub, where he asked if it was possible to have a good service, but the latter felt that there was always acceptable services instead. Then, he admitted that he was starting to doubt himself as, since his accident, he had to overcome some demons in order to remain optimistic, and feared that he was losing himself to the competition. During the Potato Challenge, Chris decided to take a big risk by making a lobster version of Sheppard’s pie. He was the third person from the red team to have his dish judged, went up against Ariel, and presented his lobster Sheppard’s pie. It was heavily praised for making the potato the true hero while still retaining just enough lobster taste, with Ramsay calling it the best dish he made in the competition and awarding him a perfect 10. When the score was tied at 40 each, Ramsay and Richard Blaise chose his dish as the best of that day, the red team won the challenge, and he was shocked that it happened. The red team was rewarded with a trip to Animal Tracks to meet some animals, and ate lunch at Daniel Humm’s Nomad Food truck. When going back to the dorms, the men gave Chris immense praise for winning the challenge for them, and he said that he needed that win after feeling the previous last night. During the reward, he said that he loved animals, and originally wanted to be a zoologist when he was younger. When the red team came back from their reward, Chris was starting to feel the dark emotions come back from last night again, and feared that it would progress further should he stay in the competition. While prepping for service, he asked Sous Chef Christina for a talk in the pantry room, and while there, he told her that his head was not in the game, and that he was considering leaving the competition that day. While Sous Chef Christina was shocked by that news, he explained that he was in a dark spot after his accident, and that he was coming back to that place. Understanding his condition, Sous Chef Christina sympathizes with his ordeal and that he should remain mentally healthy, before leaving to talk with Ramsay about his situation. After learning this, Ramsay took him back to the pantry room, where Chris said that he could not properly describe what was going on. After hearing that, Ramsay told him that his mental health should be his top priority, that he should seek professional help as soon as possible which Ramsay would help with, therefore allowing him to leave the competition. Before leaving, he told Ramsay that he really wanted to receive inspiration from the latter’s inspiration, and during his exit interview, he admitted that while he could have lied, and how hard it was to walk out on an opportunity thousands would kill for, he knew that it was the right choice he had to make. He was last seen packing his suitcase, and walking out of the dorms. Ramsay told the competition that Chris had to leave for personal reasons. He did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence until the Episode 16 recap. Nomination history Trivia *He is the first chef to quit the competition before a dinner service began, and the first chef to withdraw from the competition due to mental stress. *He and Kanae are the youngest of Rookies Vs. Veterans, at age 25. *After his appearance on the show, he became the Chef de Cuisine at Ward 8. Quotes *"Two Halibut, Two Pork, One Lamb, One Beef!" *"Two Scallops, One Halibut, One Lobster..." *(About repeating order several times) "This is not happening, this is not happening..." *"5'7 and a half, because the half does fucking matter!" *"I'm feeling those emotions coming back from yesterday. I don't feel good at all. I guess a cool win, but winning and being on this like natural high and then you know, knowing that it's coming down. I feel like the longer I stay the more it's gonna progress in this darkness." *(After withdrawing) "It's easier to lie and hide behind things, but it's harder to face the music, and to take yourself off an opportunity thousands would kill for, but for me it's just absolutely the right thing to do." External Links * Category:Chef Category:Rookies Vs Veterans Category:Bay Staters Category:Rookies Category:Quitters Category:13th Place